Loom-heddle



UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

GEORGE O. DRAPER, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NORTHROPLOOM COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE AND SACO, MAINE.

LOOM-HEDDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,149 dated October6, 1896.

Application filed April 3, 1896. Serial No. 586,035. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. DRAPER, of Hopedale, county of Worcester,State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Loom-Heddles,ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

This invention has for its object the improvement of that class ofheddles employed in looms wherein the heddles used to control the warpin the formation of the shed for the reception of the weft or fillingare made instrumental in automatically stopping the loom when awarp-thread breaks or unduly slackens, as, for instance, in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 536,969, dated April 2, 1895, to whichreference may be had.

In that patent the heddles were composed of thin sheet-metal stripsprovided each with a warp-receiving eye and with an elongated eye to beentered by a cross-bar of less depth than the length of the elongatedeye, the crossbar forming part of a harness-frame.

In this invention I have devised a simple and equally effective heddle,but much cheaper in construction, the heddle consisting of a wire bentat or near its end to form a supportingloop by which to connect it witha heddle-operating bar and having between its ends a flattened portionwhich is provided with a warp-receiving eye in the plane of the openingin said loop. The loop and the flattened portion of the heddle when inuse stand in or parallel to the plane of the warp-thread which passesthrough the warp-receiving eye.

Figure l, in side elevation, represents one form of heddleembodyingmyinvention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of another form ofheddle, and Fig. 3 is an edge view of the heddle shown in Fig. 2.

In making the heddle I take a piece of wire a of suitable shape and sizeand bend it at or near one end to form a supporting-loop I), throughwhich loop the cross-bar of the heddle or harness-frame is passed.Between its ends the wire is flattened, as at c, in suitable manner, asby heating and upsetting and then flattening, and a Warp-eye c ispunched or drilled therethrough at right angles to the direction of thewarp-thread when the heddle is in operative position, the flattened eyeportion 0 of the heddle being in the same plane as the supporting-loopb, and consequently in or parallel to the plane of the Warp-threadpassed through the eye.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the heddle a is provided with two supporting-loops band b at its ends and preferably oppositely turned to better preservethe balance of the heddle, the flattened portion 01 having a warp-eye dmade therethrough. Heddles embodying such construction are strong,light, and very cheap to construct, while possessing sufficient rigidityto properly perform their work, the cheapness resulting from thelessened cost of production of round wire as compared with equallywell-finished flat stock.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

A loom-heddle composed of a single piece of wire having at its end asupporting-loop by which to connect it with a heddle-operating

